You'd think it's just about knitting and travel, but it's really about life, love, faith...and food

Monday, March 16, 2009

Knit Along: Urban Beats Scarf - Day 1

Fear my needles...

Some projects make you shriek and whine, they’re so beyond your skill level. You loose your place in the pattern for the seventeenth time this row, the yarn snags and won’t come undone easily, and you feel grossly incompetent. You consider snapping your needles in half. You wonder why you ever found knitting enjoyable.

Then there are the other kind of hard projects. The ones that make you squint and stick your tongue out while there’s steam coming out of your ears because you’re concentrating so hard. You’re stretching your skills, expanding your toolbox of stitches, and just plain doing something mighty impressive.

This is the latter. This is a COOL scarf. Oh, you’ve got to pay attention on the elongated stitch rows, but the pay off is definitely there. Plus, you’ve got a quartet of simple garter stitch rows to catch your breath. The combination of simple and elaborate is terrific. And it looks like you’re the knitting equivalent of a Jedi Master. This is the kind of knitting you hold up to your friends with a smug smile.

Want proof? My teenage daughter took one look at this and said, “Can I have that?”

That has NEVER happened with anything else I’ve knit. Even the really impressive stuff. And, best of all, I will be able to happily pass this one off to her because while the folks at Loopy Yarns choose a very hip goldenrod-and-burgundy colorway, they had no way of knowing I look near death when wearing yellow whereas my daughter just glows.